Risk magazine
Doubt over opportunities for new monolines
With financial guarantors hit by a raft of downgrades in recent months as a result of exposures to subprime mortgage-linked securities – restricting their ability to generate new business - several new players are waiting in the wings to fill the void…
Northern Rock appoints CRO
Troubled UK mortgage bank Northern Rock has appointed Rick Hunkin as its chief risk officer. He will join the company by September 1, 2008.
Second review on Athilon rating
Moody's yesterday placed the AAA counterparty rating of credit derivatives product company (CDPC) Athilon Capital on watch for downgrade.
SEC hits out at agencies over RMBS
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday published a report detailing the results of its investigation on the three main credit rating agencies' practices in rating products that reference residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).
Quant Congress: Models not to blame for stat arb crisis
Quantitative investment models were not responsible for the ructions in the statistical arbitrage sector in August 2007 and would, in fact, have proved extremely profitable should funds have weathered the storm, delegates at Quant Congress USA heard…
CFTC enforcement head returns to private sector
Gregory Mocek, head of the enforcement division at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has resigned to return to private practice.
Quant Congress: Bear Stearns breached structured credit limits, says former CRO
Defunct securities dealer Bear Stearns persistently breached its own internal limits governing how much structured credit paper the firm could hold on balance sheet in the months leading up to its collapse, the firm’s former head of risk management for…
World Bank tests water with Malawi drought risk trade
The World Bank will close a weather derivatives trade by October 1, a move intended to hedge the Malawian government against the financial risk of severe or catastrophic drought.
Liffe to clear credit derivatives in Q4
London-based derivatives exchange Liffe will begin clearing contracts linked to the Markit iTraxx indexes of European credit default swaps (CDSs) during the fourth quarter of 2008.
Q&A: Regulator calls for greater insurance against liquidity risk
Arthur Angulo, senior vice-president of banking supervision at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and co-chair of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Working Group on Liquidity, talks to Risk about recent initiatives to improve liquidity risk…
US mortgage lender closes doors after capital warning
Indymac Bancorp, one of the largest mortgage providers in the US, closed its doors to new business and announced deep job cuts yesterday, blaming the continuing crisis in the mortgage-backed securities market.
New credit heads at GFI
Credit derivatives brokerage GFI has named two new senior managers at its New York office.
Quant Congress: Gaussian copula "failing dramatically" in pricing CDOs
Gaussian copula distribution models are an overly simplistic and inadequate means of valuing tranches of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) and other structured products, warned a senior quant yesterday.
Rahul Sen to join BlackRock in Singapore
Rahul Sen, previously first vice-president of home loans risk management at Washington Mutual in Seattle, is moving to join asset manager BlackRock in Singapore.
New lobby group to defend securitisation markets
As pressure for reform in the securitisation market grows, three regional industry lobbying groups - the American Securitisation Forum (ASF), the European Securitisation Forum (ESF) and the Securities Industry and Futures Markets Association (Sifma) -…
New York Fed appoints Krieger to lead new credit risk management group
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has created a new payments policy and credit risk management group. The bank has appointed Sandra Krieger to lead it, and she will also become a member of the bank’s management committee.
ABS new issuance increases 158%
Asset-backed securities (ABS) issuance for the second quarter has increased 158% compared with the first quarter, according to London-based data provider Xtrakter.
More writedowns coming at UBS
UBS will report more writedowns in its second-quarter results, due on August 12, the Swiss bank warned today.
Basel committee outlines reforms for rating agencies
The Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) – a group affiliated with the Bank for International Settlements that monitors developments in financial markets for the G10 countries – released on July 4 its findings on failures in structured finance…
TriOptima prepares to face Isda-backed rival
The new credit derivatives tear-up service announced by Isda yesterday will use a more flexible method of simplifying credit portfolios - but established provider TriOptima in Stockholm disputes it will be any better than its own service.
JP Morgan hires in credit correlation
JP Morgan has hired Olivier Vigneron, former global head of structured credit risk management at BNP Paribas in London.
Cheyne auction reflects harsh reality for SIVs
An expected restructuring of the assets of defunct structured investment vehicle (SIV) Cheyne Finance later this month underlines the harsh reality faced by many investors in the vehicles, who are likely to get little or none of their money back.
UniCredit snaps up TJ Lim and NewSmith credit advisory
UniCredit has bought London-based credit advisory NewSmith Financial Products (NSFP) and appointed chief executive TJ Lim as its new co-head of markets.
FSA to order CFD disclosure
The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) will treat contracts for difference (CFDs) in the same way as shareholdings for disclosure purposes, it announced today.